John J. Mescall

John J. Mescall, A.S.C. (1899-1962) was an American cinematographer. He photographed such silent films as Ernst Lubitsch's "The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg" (1927), but he is best known for his work in the 1930s at Universal Pictures, where he often worked on the films of James Whale. Mescall was famous for his elaborate (some might say grandiose), effective camera movements, in which the camera would often track completely across or around a set, or even one performer (as it does during Paul Robeson's singing of "Ol' Man River" in the 1936 version of "Show Boat"). He would not always use these kinds of camera movements ("The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg" has none), but his most famous films all have them.

Best known achievements

Mescall's greatest achievements in film are considered to be the 1936 "Show Boat", and "Bride of Frankenstein", in which his use of wild camera angles added greatly to the "Creation of the Bride" scene. Both of these films were directed by James Whale. Mescall also did uncredited work on Whale's version of "The Invisible Man".

Mescall also filmed "The Road Back" in 1937 for Whale, an ill-fated sequel to "All Quiet on the Western Front". Like "All Quiet", this was also based on a novel by Erich Maria Remarque. Though visually interesting, "The Road Back" bombed at the box-office, in part due to a well-publicized editing dispute between Whale and Universal executives. That film's stellar cast included Noah Beery Jr. and Richard Cromwell.

Later work

Unfortunately, after the 1939 "weepie" "When Tomorrow Comes", starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer in their second film together, Mescall was limited to working in a series of forgettable films, except for the 1944 film-noir "Dark Waters", starring Merle Oberon, Franchot Tone, and Thomas Mitchell. He photographed two Sonja Henie films at Twentieth Century-Fox, and also did uncredited work on the 1944 film "The Bridge of San Luis Rey". He received his only Academy Award nomination, oddly enough, not for his work on the Universal classics (which also included such films as Edgar G. Ulmer's "The Black Cat"), but for his lensing of the semi-forgotten 1942 romantic comedy "Take a Letter, Darling", starring Fred MacMurray and Rosalind Russell.